Showing results by narrator "Patrick Lawlor" in All Categories

Considered one of the greatest short story writers of all time, Anton Chekhov heavily influenced the evolution of the modern short story. Most notably, he used a technique that would later be called "stream of consciousness", in which he eschewed the traditional story structure and simply wrote as though he was thinking aloud. Written in that same vein, "The Lottery Ticket" is a story about money, luck, and relationships. Proceeds from sale of this title go to Reach Out and Read, an innovative literacy advocacy organization.

He saw in the rusted mirror the man he’d become, new scars and all. His wife killed, his family shattered, a man takes to the road, wandering lost and alone - except for the comfort of a kind of woman he can’t deny. When a tryst in the shadow of Arizona’s red rocks leads to murder, the man sets out to clear his name and corner the killer, unaware that a madman is on his trail - and the trail of his estranged daughter.

A shape bends over a drink at the end of the bar in Big Emma's on Oakland's Jack London Square, looking like a bundle of black clothes someone has left on the barstool. Full red lips that match brightly dyed hair are the only source of color, as if an artist had begun to colorize her just before she walked out of frame in a '40s noir movie. Her name is Susan, and she is there to hire PI Jim Wolf to find her husband's killer - and to protect her from a man called Red. Wolf takes her case, but Susan is soon murdered. Then an attempt is made on Wolf's life … and the hunter becomes the hunted.

Former Las Vegas homicide detective Jim Snow's luck has been going from bad to worse, spurred by a series of rash decisions and a quickly developing mid-life crisis. He quit the force a few years ago to play poker for a living and has been losing steadily for months. His money is running out - and so is his live-in girlfriend.

The Island of Yew is divided into five kingdoms, the central of which, Spor, is a place ravaged by crimes and robbers. One day, a young girl, Sesely, living in the nicer kingdom of Heg, is enjoying a picnic with some companions. A fairy comes down and begs them to help change her into a human. Sesely and her friends, amazed, obey her orders and soon they find themselves in the company of a young man, named Prince Marvel. Prince Marvel desires to go on adventures and become a hero, which he is able to do easily enough in crime-ridden Yew.

In this sequel to At the Earth's Core, David Innes vows revenge and returns to the Inner World of Pellucidar to rescue the beautiful Dian, who had been torn from his arms by trickery. However, his return trip places him far from the land of his beloved and he is forced to undertake a desperate journey thousands of miles across the fierce inner earth to reach her.

"A Tale of the Ragged Mountains", published in 1844, is a short story partially based on Edgar Allan Poe's experiences while a student at the University of Virginia. Set near Charlottesville, it is the only one of his stories to take place in Virginia.

"A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" highlights scientific theories of Poe's day, engages with British imperial history, and forecasts contemporary interest in psychoactive drugs, the transmigration of the soul, and the dynamics of the doctor-patient relationship.

The life of John Hancock, contemporary of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, and first to sign the Declaration of Independence, is featured in this volume of the Young Patriots series. Detailing Hancock's early years, this work focuses on his relationship with boyhood friend John Adams and his academic struggles with what he would later become most famous for: his writings.

This book was created for Christian parents to read and enjoy themselves or to share with their children. All of the selected stories are appropriate for children and are about raising Christian kids 12 and under. Parents will enjoy hearing these heartfelt, inspiring, and often humorous stories about the ups and downs of daily life in today's contemporary Christian families, written by other Christian parents.

An ordinary boy, a mysterious letter, a royal birth, a giant trout, a near-death experience, and an unexpected romance magically come together to create a touching and good-hearted novel about the search for self and the power of belief.

The Weekly World News team uncovers the definitive and faux-tastic story of Bat Boy, from his hardscrabble origins in the caves of West Virginia to his global influence in the 21st century. Going Mutant reveals how Bat Boy has heeded a call to service that has embarrassed less forthcoming mutants.

Baree was the son of a grey wolf and a black dog, born in the vast Canadian wilderness. He learns about nature and his fellow animals by trial and error; fighting with owls and playing with beavers. Being alone in the wild, he desperately seeks to join a pack of wolves, but they see him as a dog, and he is driven away.

Eddie Rickenbacker was a World War I Flying Ace, a Medal of Honor winner, and even a racecar driver. But did you know that his first attempt at flying was to ride his bicycle off the roof of his house while holding an umbrella?

Jack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild and other books. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first Americans to make a lucrative career exclusively from writing. Here are four of his best stories: "The Whale Tooth", "To Build a Fire", "The House of Pride", and "The House of Mapuhi".

Edgar Allan Poe, best known for his tales of ratiocination, fantastical horror, and genre-founding detective stories, tells the story of Bobby, who wants to marry cousin Kate. Uncle Rumudgeon says he can - when there are three Sundays in a week.

He's suave, he's sexy, he's cool...and he's an undertaker!

After spending the summer of 1853 in the Berkshire Mountains, where he supposedly had a real life encounter with a lightning-rod salesman, Melville published "The Lightning-Rod Man". At the end of this short story, the lightning-rod salesman is exposed for the fraud that he is. However, that will not keep his successors from fanning out to the Middle West, where lightning storms abound and farmers are gullible.

Just as seismic shifts in the natural world have radical and far-reaching effects, there are seismic shifts in our personal lives that can transform our hearts, relationships, physical health, faith, and every aspect of our lives. These are the little changes that can make the big difference!

Gary Paulsen’s slapstick tales capture the “wonderful madness” of growing up in a small town in northern Minnesota, when high spirits, showing off for girls, and general idiocy led Gary and his pals to attempt some amazing stunts! Wacky, daring, just plain nuts - extreme sports lead to extreme fun in new stories from Gary’s boyhood.

Beamer, age 13, who speaks only Californian, is an alien in the world of Middle America, exiled to a bizarre, ancient house on a mysterious street that may or may not exist on any map. With the help of a nerdy African-American kid named Ghoulie, a gangly tomboy named Scilla, and a miraculous, broken-down tree house shaped like a spaceship, he battles the indigenous life forms in his new home, from bullying creatures to the strange inhabitants of dark castles, subterranean caverns, and a spider web the size of a house.